Lufthansa ground staff to stage 'warning strike' on Wednesday

Ground handling staff at Lufthansa are set to stage a “warning strike” on Wednesday across all of the airline’s locations, as disagreements between around 20,000 workers and the German flag carrier in collective bargaining continued.

The Ver.di United Service Union said employees of Lufthansa AG Boden, Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Systems, Lufthansa Technik Logistik Services (LTLS), Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Service Gesellschaft (LSG), as well as Lufthansa Engineering and Operational Services (LEOS), had criticised the airline’s second-round offer on 13 July as “insufficient”.

Ver.di said it was calling an all-day ‘warning strike’ for 27 July to increase pressure on Lufthansa to submit a “significantly improved, final offer” in the next round of negotiations.

The strikes would start on Wednesday morning at 0345 CEST, and would end on Thursday morning at 0600.

Ver.di said that since all ground workers would strike, there would be “major” flight cancellations and delays.

Its deputy chairwoman Christine Behle, who is also the negotiator, asked passengers for understanding, blaming it on an “extremely problematic situation” caused by Lufthansa’s "mismanagement".

"The workers, who are exposed to enormous pressure on a daily basis, were waiting for a strong signal in the second round of negotiations that could have led to a good result," Behle said in a statement translated by Sharecast.

“The situation at the airports was escalating; the overload of workers due to significant staff shortages, high inflation and a three-year wage freeze were putting more and more pressure on workers.

“They urgently need more money and they need relief, - for themselves and for the passengers. The employer's offer is not enough for this.”

At 1310 CEST (1210 BST), shares in Deutsche Lufthansa were up 0.73% in Frankfurt, at €6.08.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.